My darker self Rewrite
by the nine tails 's kit
Summary: - Rewrite - Much better quality. Everyone has their own dark side and Phineas is no different. What will it take to bring out that dark side? What will it take to bring him back from that darkness? And what does that person with Phineas' face want? Rating may change. R
1. Prologue:

**Author's Note: **

As you can see, I have re-written the story. I have lost the inspiration to continue it for a long time until recently, I find out about 'The Seer'. It is the most amazing Phineas and Ferb comic I have never seen...Well, I have never actually had the chance to read it because the author has already put the story into the storage before I can read it but I still respect her talents. I have gone for a long time and my writing, thankfully, has improved slightly. I think there might be a few typos and grammar mistakes, seeing that English is not my first language and I haven't found a beta reader yet. If any of you wishes to become my beta reader, please tell me...Thank you very much.

Also, this chapter is very different from the original one. Very. Different. The main idea is still the same but if you have read the original one, you will notice it. I send out my biggest thanks for those who have read my original stories and still want it to be continued. As I have said before, I will never abandon a story. I may lose the inspiration but I will find it again if I have time. Now, as I have finished what I have to say. Let's begin the traditional disclaimer.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Phineas and Ferb. Be thankful for it, because if I have owned it, the cartoon will rate M because of violence and dark themes.

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**Prologue: Nothing will ever be the same again - Bad feeling**

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"Santa thinks everyone in Danville's been naughty? But… how could that be?" Phineas asked uncertainly as he looked at his sister – Candace, his eyes were depressedly trying to search for something in her eyes, anything that would prove that this idea, _his_ idea was not the one that caused _this madness._ Just a word, just a touch, just a small smile, _anything _to prove his innocence! He had thought that this was a great idea and it was, wasn't it? Everyone had had fun, right? Next to him, Buford said something but he paid it little to no mind as he looked at his sister, the one that would help him in times like this, to help him make sure that _this _was just some mistakes and that _he _wasn't the cause of this. "What different is this year than last year? Oh, I know, you and your friends got everyone in Danville involved in one of your stupid scheme." Candace said bitterly and Phineas felt as if he had been slapped. He wanted to take a step back, to shake his head and deny everything she said but somehow, he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think clearly.

Finally, he gathered his courage and opened his mouth to speak again, his words came out just barely above a whisper, and his eyes were blurry with unshed tears "You think it could be my fail? Could this… be true?" Candace snorted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, the anger in her eyes flickered as Phineas flinched slightly, unable to accept the news. He only wanted to help…he didn't think Santa would be mad at them for this, for…wanting to celebrate Christmas. Candace seemed to think his silence as a denial for what he had done and her anger got the better of her again. Her stupid, good for nothing brother had ruined her Christmas with Jeremy, and looked at what he was saying. He denied everything. Taking a deep breath, Candace opened her mouth and screeched "Yeah, you and your stupid scheme make Santa think we are all naughty. _This_ is all YOUR FAIL. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE. YOU MAKE US ALL INVOVLE IN YOUR STUPID GAME. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. I AM SO ASHAME THAT I AM YOUR SISTER. GET AWAY FROM ME AND MY LIFE."

She stormed off, leaving a shocked Phineas and his friends behind. The young boy was ready to crack at that moment. His sister, his only sister didn't want him. She hated him. She thought he was nothing but a pest, a troublemaker, a… burden. He choked back a sob and flinched slightly when he felt his stepbrother's hand touched his shoulder briefly, trying to comfort him and ease his pain. Isabella looked at him sadly and tried to say comforting words to her crush but stepped back when he purposely ignored all her attempts. Phineas looked around and his eyes landed on a furniture store. His eyes widened as he realized something. _'That's it! If I sleep, this will turn out to be one big nightmare' _He thought as he walked to the store, his eyes shone brightly with hope.

* * *

"Wow, it was a terrible nightmare…" Phineas opened his eyes and grinned cheerfully, his smile was forced and depression was rolling out of his body in waves, the young boy was near his breaking point. He sat up and looked around, only to realize that the nightmare was still here…and it still continued, on and on and on. Isabella looked at him; the pain was clear as day in her eyes as she said softly "Phineas. Please don't do it again. It won't change what happened. It pained me more to see you like this. Please, just stop." Phineas frowned slightly when he looked at her and without saying a word, he closed his eyes again, continued to circle that had happened for the past 20 minutes. He pretended to sleep, opened his eyes and hoped that it was all a nightmare, and felt the disappointment when he realized it wasn't, then he pretended to sleep again and woke up a minute later… Isabella fell into an uncomfortable silence as she stared at her crush, her lips curled upward into a small, sad smile as she wanted nothing more than to touch him and make his nightmare go away. At last, she torn her eyes from Phineas and looked away, her heart clenched painfully even more when she observed him. He looked so vulnerable, unlike the cheerful, creative boy she had fallen in love with. She gave him a small nod, not that he would notice but she still nodded nonetheless. Turning away, Isabella felt the corners of her eyes got wet and she brushed away a tear, wanting to be strong for both herself and her crush.

Ferb looked at his brother, his concern for his brother rose up a notch as he looked at the young boy's sleeping form. Unlike his friends, he knew that Phineas was not as normal as he seemed to be and that he was, in reality, very unstable. Inventing things was Phineas' method of keeping a clear head and his sanity intact…if Phineas ever cracked then... The older boy shuddered despite himself. It was not a good scenario to think about. Closing his eyes, Ferb hoped that this nightmare would go away soon and return his cheerful brother back to him.

"Isabella, we've gotten what you want. Here you are." A fireside girl – Adyson Sweetwater said as she and her friends carried into the shop a pile of heavy and tall boxes. Isabella absently waved her hand and forced a smile "Thanks, girls…please put them near here" The girls noticed their leader's forced smile and stared at her in confusion. "I'm fine…don't worry" Isabella lied and gave them a more convincing smile, or at least it was more convincing than her previous smile. The fireside girls looked at each other but didn't say anything and moved the box closer to the bed where Phineas was _'sleeping'_. In their worry, the girls didn't focus on where they were going and before everyone had the chance to react, Adyson tripped on a small box lying carelessly on the ground, causing all the fireside girls to fall with her. Isabella yelled as she realized a box was swaying dangerously above Phineas' head. "Phineas, watch out!" But it was too late, the moment Phineas opened his eyes, the boxes fell on his head, a sickening _crack_ was heard in the silent room as even Buford and Baljeet stopped what they were doing to look at the creative boy's direction. "PHINEAS!" Isabella yelled again and both she and Ferb dove into the last pile of boxes, searching for their friend. The others immediately sprang into action as they moved the boxes, revealing a bleeding Phineas as he laid motionlessly, his face was pale and a small stream of blood was running from his head. "No" Isabella said as she covered her mouth, to horrify to speak properly. "No, no, no…PHINEAS!" She called out again.

Ferb felt his heart stopped beating the moment he landed his eyes on his stepbrother and best friend's form. He looked so small, so weak and Ferb, with shaky fingers, moved closer to the boy and grasped his wrist gently. Checking for the pulse, the older boy sighed in relief and spoke quietly "Phineas is alive…someone please calls the ambulance" For once, no one interrupted the boy as he gave out his order.

* * *

The siren shrieked as the doctors and nurses moved Phineas' body to the ambulance. Ferb was sitting inside the car as it sped up, feeling strangely numb. He did not feel sad, nor regret and not even guilt. Everything became blurry in Ferb's mind as he stared at his brother, his breathing was soft and unsteady, unlike the laughing brother Ferb was familiar with. This boy was too stilled, too quiet, and too pale that Ferb had a hard time accepting that this…boy in front of him was really Phineas. Ferb did not remember much about the trip to the hospital. All he remembered was Isabella's tears, Buford's silence, and Baljeet's mutters as the boy flipped through the pages of his book, trying to calm himself down. He remembered their mom's sweats as she ran all the way to where they were, forgot to even put on the coat in her hurry, and his sister's grim face as she stared at them, a strange emotion that Ferb didn't realize was on her face. He remembered their mother buried her head on their father's shoulder, silver tears ran down her face. He felt a sob threatened to destroy his emotionless face but he held it back. He would **not **break down in front of everyone.

The ambulance stopped and the doctors fell into a familiar routine as Ferb stood up and stepped out, his feet refused to move and his body felt heavy. The pre-teen walked slowly to a bench and sat down, buried his face into his hands, feeling suddenly exhausted. A hand touched Ferb's shoulder and he looked up to see his father staring down at him with a sympathy expression "It's going to be okay, Ferb…your brother is going to be alright. Do you want to rest?" Ferb, as usual, didn't reply and stared at the door blankly where his brother was having a surgery. His father seemed to abandon the attempt to make him talk and instead, sat down next to him and held his small hand inside the man's large, warm hands. Even though Ferb didn't say anything, he really appreciated the gesture. Somehow, it gave him strength, like everything would be okay like his father had said. Ferb closed his eyes; finally let a small tear run down his face. His father didn't say anything but simply stared at him and pulled him into a hug. The pre-teen didn't resist and Lawrence felt a surge of sadness swept through him. He flinched slightly…Suddenly, he felt as if his family would never be the same again. The older man hastily pushed the feeling aside, feeling silly for such thoughts. He could never imagine that his feeling was right and their small family would shatter and shatter very soon.

* * *

**One week later…**

"How is he, doctor? Why doesn't he awake yet?" Linda asked worriedly as she stared at her youngest son. Her eyes dimmed with worry and she seemed to be older than she really was. One week had passed and Phineas hadn't shown any signs of waking up soon and truthfully, it was beginning to make her worry sick. "I truly apologize, ma'am. Technically, he should be awake by now. Physically, he is completely fine but mentally, I really don't know. We have to wait until he wakes up to check up on him" The doctor said as he followed her stare and ran a hand through his messy gray hair. It had been a tired week for him. There were too many accidents at Christmas that he had to pull an all-nighter and he hadn't even had a chance to sit down all this morning. The man sighed and comforted the worried mother "I'm sure he'll be alright…please excuse me, Ma'am…I have other patients I need to attend to. Good day" Seeing that she was too distracted to answer him, the doctor silently made his way out of the room, leaving Linda and her two sons in the room.

Linda looked at them both as they were still sleeping, Ferb's hand clutched tightly around his brother's. She was very worried about the boys and not just about Phineas. Ferb looked so tired, so exhausted that it made her heart bleed when she looked at her son's form. After the first day of Phineas staying in the hospital, the older boy had surprised her by speaking his mind. It had been a long time since he had spoken on his own and not because of a question. He had said that he would like to stay in the hospital to look after Phineas. At first, the woman had immediately dismissed the idea of letting Ferb stay in the hospital and forced him to stay home. However, she had to change her mind after a few days of letting Ferb stay home. The pre-teen barely ate a spoon of food per day and all he did was looking out from the window, waiting for Phineas to come home and smile. He slept only a few hours a day and at night, when Linda herself found it hard to sleep, she could hear his pencil stretching something on the paper, probably a machine of some sort to help her brother. Linda didn't have the heart to tell him that his idea would probably do very little to improve his brother's health. Luckily for her, without Phineas, Ferb didn't seem to be in the mood of building anything. His mood affected the whole house as Lawrence didn't smile now and Linda didn't even want to do house chores. Only Candace didn't seem to be affected by it. The girl somehow blamed her ruined Christmas as Phineas' fault and wanted nothing to do with him. Of course, as a sister, she cared for him but his accident seemed to bother her the least. Linda looked out from the small glass window and spotted Candace talking on the phone with someone in the hallway. _'It must be a friend'_ The woman thought grimly.

Linda was pulled out of her thoughts as Ferb stirred slightly, his eyes opened and he looked at her. Knowing that she would not have a greeting, Linda simply moved closer to the bed and touched Ferb's cheek with her right hand "Please, eat something, dear…you are too tired to do anything" Ferb shook his head and continued to look at Phineas, his face was blank. Ferb looked terrible. His eyes were red and tired, his green hair was messy and she could tell that he had lost weight. "Phineas is about to wake up" Ferb announced suddenly and Linda looked at him strangely "How do you know, honey?" Ferb didn't say anything as he held Phineas' wrist for the woman to see. Phineas' fingers…they were…_twitching. _A moment later, Phineas gave a small grunt and Linda could see Ferb's face lit up uncharacteristically. Not that she blamed him, she could feel herself smile brightly as Phineas' eyes opened and a tear of relief ran down her face. He was alright. Thanks god he was alright.

Phineas grunted once again, his voice was scratchy since he hadn't used his voice for a week. He managed to say softly "W-water" Ferb handed his stepbrother a glass of water and Linda watched with a small smile as Phineas flashed his brother a grateful smile. Ferb helped Phineas sit up and her youngest son, for the first time, noticed there was another person in the room "Hey, Mom" He called out cheerfully only to fall into a coughing fit a minute later, his small frame shook with each cough, tearing Linda apart. "Take it easy, honey…how are you feeling?" Linda asked and took a seat next to Ferb as Phineas grinned cheekily "I have never felt this good, Mom" Linda put a hand on his forehead and asked worriedly "Are you sure, dear? The doctor said you might feel a little dizzy…" Phineas pushed his Mother's hand away and smiled once again, this time his smile seemed to be more forced "I'm fine, really…see?" He opened his arms wide but stopped when the coughing fit came back. Linda stood up and walked out of the door "I'm going to call Candace and your dad…they're probably worried sick…Ferb, watch your brother for me, okay?" Linda's back turned and therefore, she had completely missed the cold glint in her youngest son's eyes as she mentioned Candace. Ferb gave a soft grunt, which could be translated as "Yes, Mom" and Linda walked out of the room to announce the good news, leaving the duo alone in the room.

The room fell into a strange kind of silence as Ferb studied his stepbrother, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion as he noticed something was strange with his best friend. Phineas, meanwhile, was smiling at Ferb, completely oblivious to his stare as the door opened once again, revealing Candace, Lawrence, and Linda. Phineas looked at his family and greeted each of them "Hey, Dad, Mom…Candace" He paused briefly as he mentioned Candace's name, too briefly for his family to notice except for Ferb. Flashing his family members a smile, Candace tried to look casually when she noticed his smile for her did not reach his eyes. Shivering unconsciously, the teenager girl studied her brother uneasily. Could he still be mad about what she had said? No way…Her brother was the most forgiving person in this world and she never admitted it out loud but Candace was proud of her brother for it. "Hey, son…how are you?" Lawrence asked as he sighed in relief mentally. His feeling was wrong after all. But if it was wrong, how couldn't he shake the feeling off?

"I'm completely fine, Dad…just, well…a little hungry" Phineas admitted, his face flushed red for a moment before his stomach groaned, causing everyone to chuckle. "Alright…I will get something for you, boys…and yes, that includes you, too, Ferb." Linda announced as she turned the doorknob. "Dad…Candace, you can go with Mom, too…I just want a moment with Ferb, that's all" Phineas said, his face showed a slight discomfort "About what, dear?" Linda asked and Phineas shrugged before grinning "Just some new ideas…I may invent a time machine next…no, I have already done that…how about a…a…" Phineas tapped his cheek and mumbled to himself, making Linda smile. Her boys had such wonderful imagination. Kissing his cheek, she laughed and said "Okay, honey…let's go...we don't want to interrupt the boys' conversation, right?" Lawrence and Candace looked like they were about to refuse but thought better of it and nodded.

As the door closed with a soft _click_, Phineas turned his head to look into his brother's eyes but remained silent. Ferb and he often played this game. It was called _'who can be silent longer'_. Of course, Ferb was always the winner and after ten minutes or so, Phineas gave up "Tch…I can't never beat you in this, Ferb" He said and grinned as his brother rose an eyebrow "So, as usual, the loser has to answer the winner's questions, huh?" Ferb asked quietly. Even in the quiet room, Ferb's low voice was barely above a whisper and Phineas nodded "Uh-hm…So, ask me, Ferb" The older boy stared at Phineas again and after picking his words carefully, he opened his mouth to ask "What do you want to talk about?"

"That," Phineas grinned and pointed at Ferb's chest "is what I thought you would ask me first. Alright, I will go straight to the point then…Answer this question for me, first…"

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**Author's Note: **

You have finished the prologue. What do you think about it? Is it better than the first time? Do I need to slow the pace down? or increase the description? any other suggestions? I don't accept flames but I accept helpful criticism. That's all.

Please read and review. Each review brings joy and inspiration to me.

Thank you.


	2. Talking to myself

**Author's Note:**

Heya, guys...how's it going? I know it's an early update and all but I suddenly have the inspiration to make this, you know...plus, I already have the idea, just need to improve it. Anyway, I just finished watching "Bully Bromance Breakup" and man...Phineas and Ferb **are** unstable if they don't build anything... Wow... seriously, just wow...it's funny in a disturbing way and well, let me tell you something, it seems just like Phineas has OCD with building or something... And I also think the Bujeet elementary in the episode is quite clear. Of course, that's just me talking.

Oh well, back to the fanfic...I'm sorry I didn't make the chapter longer but I don't want to give away the element of surprise and I was afraid that if I filled too much information in a chapter, it wouldn't turn out well. Uhm, please ignore the grammar or spelling mistakes in the chapter. Once again, my English isn't really good. Oh well, let's get the disclaimer over with.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Phineas and Ferb. They belong to someone else...and I'm not making any money out of this.

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**Chapter 1: Talking to myself **

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**One week ago…**

Phineas opened his eyes and let out a groan as he felt his head hurt like he had just been stepped on by a herd of angry horses. Everything hurt and worse, he couldn't see or hear anything. Phineas' eyes widened _'Wait a minute, __I__ can't hear or see anything?' _He sat straight up and winced as pain shot through his body like electricity. _'Okay…sitting up right after you have been stepped on by something or someone is a bad idea'_ He wrote down his mental note and looked around _'But…where am I?'_ Everything was pitch black and Phineas couldn't hear or see a thing. It was as if someone had switched off all his senses and he couldn't even realize the surface he was sitting on was liquid or hard soil. Fear wrapped around his heart as he couldn't even hear his breathing. What happened? Where was he? Why was he here? Where was everyone? He opened his mouth to speak, hoping that the sound of his own voice would calm himself down "Hello? Is there anybody here?" He asked but flinched as the sound of his voice didn't reach his ears. But Phineas knew he had spoken, he just knew it from the bottom of his heart. **"Nobody's here" **A booming voice replied mockingly as Phineas covered his ears, cringing when the strange noise assaulted his eardrums. Who was that? But even in his numb state, Phineas had realized how familiar the voice sounded. He just couldn't put his finger on it. A moment of utter silence and Phineas swallowed hard, trying to sound brave "I know you're here…and I am here as well…Where are we?" Bringing his hands to cover his ears, prepared to face that loud voice again, Phineas was surprised as he listened to the speaker's answer, his voice was much softer this time **"No…there is no ****us****. There is only ****me****. And ****I ****am**** in ****my**** world" **Phineas shook his head in confusion as he tried to understand the voice's sentence. Key word: Tried. "I-I don't understand…I am here as well…doesn't that mean there are two of us?" He asked hesitantly and looked around, trying hard to look through the dark curtain and find a way out. The voice was starting to scare him a little bit.

"**Stupid child…you really have ****forgotten**** about me, haven't you?" **The voice said, anger mixed with unidentified sorrow lingered on the tip of its tongue. Phineas had stood up and was now taking a few steps back, clearly afraid of the voice "I n-never know you…I can't forget what I don't know" He said, his voice wavered a little as the voice let out a bitter laugh. Where was the exit? Phineas thought as his hands waved around, trying to find a wall or a doorknob or something **"I'm hurt…you really don't even have a tiny shred of memory about me left" **The voice mocked him once again and Phineas shivered as he felt the voice coming closer but he couldn't see or feel anything. He just knew! Panicked, the young boy ran and ran but there was no way he could run and no place to hide. Finally, Phineas collapsed in exhaustion, his breathing was hot and sweats poured out of his forehead. He knelt on the ground, taking a shaky breath and tried hard not to vomit. "L-Leave me alone" He managed to speak weakly and held his shirt tight. His heart was beating too fast for his liking. The voice seemed to ignore him and he could feel a smile growing on the face that he couldn't see **"No matter…just relax and enjoy your world" **The voice said absently and Phineas felt his eyes grew heavier. "N-no…I don't want to fall asleep" He mumbled as he barely suppressed a yawn. **"It was never your choice in the first place…sweet dreams, Phineas…I will take care of things from now on"** The voice laughed gleefully and Phineas closed his eyes, falling and falling. Before letting the darkness envelop him completely, the pre-teen voiced his thought out loud _"Why does the voice sound so much like my own voice?"_ Phineas couldn't hear the answer anymore as he felt a pair of warm arms wrapped around him and he fell asleep. The voice chuckled and said quietly, trying not to wake the sleeping boy up **"Dim-witted boy. Haven't I told you before? There is no ****us****. There is only ****me****. I am talking to myself…"**

* * *

**Currently…**

The thick silence inside the room was suffocating. Neither Phineas nor Ferb wanted to start the conversation first as they only stared at each other in complete silence. The silence was not strange for Ferb but for Phineas, staying stilled and studying something quietly like that wasn't his characteristic. At last, Phineas nodded and leaned against the wall, trying to find a more comfortable position "Hmm…how can I begin this?" He mused to himself and tapped his cheek, ignoring Ferb as the other boy folded his hands and placed them neatly in his lap, concentrated on studying the changes of Phineas. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Phineas clapped his hands together and grinned "Ah, I know how to start this…okay…so, answer this question, Ferb" He paused, watching Ferb cocked his head in confusion but nodded slightly, indicated that the younger boy had had the older boy's attention "Hmm…the question **is**…if I tell you that I'm about to leave this family, what will you do? How will you react? What will you think? Huh?" Ferb's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he thought of the appropriate answers, his mind was working rapidly to try and understand why Phineas had asked such strange questions.

"Well…" The older boy started and paused, searching for his words carefully before continued in that same monotone "**if **you said that you would leave the family, **then**…" Ferb paused once again, taking in Phineas' impatient expression. At least one thing wasn't changed. Phineas was still impatient as ever. "**Then…**I would leave with you" He finished his sentence and reached out for the glass of water on the nightstand, taking a small sip of water and observed Phineas' reaction. There were too many reasons for his answer. First of all, he wanted to take care of Phineas. He didn't want his stepbrother to get hurt and from times to times, the other boy tended to have a misfortune streak. Secondly, Ferb wanted to know why Phineas left and he knew that staying home wouldn't do a thing. Thirdly, it was one of his more selfish reasons but Ferb wanted to know more about the world. It was true that Phineas and he had travelled to many places but to stay there more than one day…never. He wanted to learn new cultures, study new things, seeing new technologies. Ferb could go on and on the reasons he should leave with Phineas but he knew the other wouldn't appreciate it if he started his rambling and so, Ferb kept his silence, like usual. Watching Phineas from the corner of his eyes, Ferb took another sip of water.

The red headed was staring at him hard like he was evaluating Ferb, his eyes lingered on the older boy's hands and he nodded, seemingly pleased with what he had heard "Alright then…I'm going to leave this place" Phineas announced suddenly. Ferb had already expected this kind of announcement only nodded calmly and placed the glass of water down "When will you leave then?" He asked, found it strangely pleasing not to be interrupted every time he tried to speak something. Phineas eyed Ferb as he crossed his hands and looked at the window thoughtfully. It was the second day after New Year and the weather was nice, if not slightly cold. Phineas could see a few birds flying on the blue sky and he heard someone laughed from the far distance. Turning back to look at Ferb, the younger boy smirked. The smirk was so dark and calculated that the atmosphere inside the room darkened considerably. Phineas' face twisted into something completely different from the carefree expression had just worn on his face a few minutes ago "It depends…when can **you** leave?" Ferb closed his eyes, tuned out all the noises to focus on thinking only. His face took a concentrating look as he pondered his answer. It turned out the answer was easier than he thought "I will have to pack our things. I think it will probably take about-"

"Hey, boys…look who's with us!" Linda said cheerfully as she pushed the door opened, accidentally interrupted Ferb as the boy was about to finish his answer. Ferb shot his Mother an annoyed look, which disappeared the moment her eyes landed on him. Phineas just looked at Ferb with a look that clearly said _'this conversation is not over'_ as he turned to face his guest with a smile on his face "Hey, Isabella…how are you today?" Isabella's smile brightened when she saw that Phineas was indeed alright. She hadn't had an easy week. Despite the fact that she did nothing to harm him, Isabella still blamed herself for telling the other fireside girls to place the boxes too near to Phineas, causing them to fall over his head. She had cried her eyes out on the first day and refused to come out of her room until practically every fireside girl came and coaxed her out. She was getting better and better but a part of her still feared that Phineas would be mad at her.

She fidgeted a little; her hands touched the doorframe as she shyly hid behind it. Ferb greeted her with a nod as Phineas chuckled and called out "Why do you have to hide? I'm not mad at you or anything" Feeling a little braver, Isabella stopped hiding and stepped into the room, her pink dress swayed slightly as she walked. "Hey, Phineas, Ferb…what cha doin'?" She asked with a smile. Phineas grinned back at her and answered her question with another chuckle "Well, nothing much…just talking." Phineas finished lamely. He eyed Isabella and dark amusement flashed in his eyes before he commented nonchalantly "You look really pretty today, Izzy". Ferb raised an eyebrow, watching Isabella as the girl became absolutely stilled in stunned silence before her face flushed bright red. _'Is he doing this on purpose?' _Ferb wondered as he saw the corner of Phineas' lips subtly curled upward. "U-uhm…t-thanks, Phin" Isabella said shyly.

Linda smiled, seemingly happy with the cute reactions of Isabella "Isabella, would you like to eat with us? I buy enough food for you to eat, too" The woman said and raised her packet, revealing 3 lunch boxes. "Sure, Mrs. Flynn…if you don't mind" Isabella smiled adorably before taking a lunch box from the woman. Taking a seat opposite to Ferb and on the left side of Phineas' bed, Isabella cocked her head to one side and asked curiously "How cha feelin'?" Phineas grinned and watched Ferb before turning back to the girl and answered "I'm feeling great! In fact, I think I might be able to build something if I can get my tool box" Across the room, Candace was silently fuming. Her little brothers were purposely ignoring her, she just knew it! And now, they dared to announce that they would build something in front of their Mom. They were so _busted!_ Candace yelled angrily "Mom! Mom! You heard them! They _want _to build something! Mom!" She jumped up and down and pointed a finger toward Phineas who was smiling at her innocently.

"Dear...Phineas is injured…I'm sure he can't build anything here…Shh" Linda tried to calm her daughter down as the girl frowned, irritated by her Mother's distrust of her claim "But Mom…" Candace whined. Phineas had been entertained enough by this show and the young boy restrained himself from laughing and settled with a wide grin instead, carefully letting his cold eyes bore into his sister's eyes "Candace…I'm sad…you don't believe me at all…I won't get into troubles, I promise" The boy said sweetly to his sister which did nothing to calm her nerves. Phineas **never** talked sweetly like that to anyone. Candace's nose wrinkled in disgust. His voice sounded like it had been coated in sugar and it sent chills down her spine. She locked eyes with him and suddenly, Candace gasped. Those were the coldest eyes she had ever seen. They contained only cold hatred, icy rage and dark revenge - a bad combination and those eyes did **not** belong to anyone let alone to Phineas. Subconsciously, Candace took a step backward, distanced herself from the person on the bed with her brother's face. "Candace, honey…are you alright?" Linda asked worriedly as she saw her daughter's action. Candace gave her Mother a nervous smile and answered hurriedly "Y-yeah, Mom…I'm fine…just remember that I have something to do at home…I will see you later…b-bye" She said and practically ran out of the door, leaving a confused Mother behind. Lawrence just stared at her stepdaughter; his face molded into a confused expression "What happened?" He asked and Phineas shrugged "I don't know, Dad…maybe she forgot to do her homework?" Linda nodded, unconvinced "I will go and check up on her…" The Mother announced and left the two remained boxes on the nightstand "Lawrence, make sure the children eat properly, okay? Especially Ferb…" She said and placed a kiss on her husband's cheek "Love you, honey" She said and walked out of the door as Lawrence absently nodded "Love you, too" He replied and sat down on one of the chairs.

"Are you boys going to tell me what you discussed about?" The man asked after a minute of silence. Phineas chewed his food slowly and swallowed before answered in a cheerful tongue "Just the usual stuff, Dad…nothing to worry about…it's not like I'm planning to leave or anything" He grinned as he heard Ferb snorted slightly but the older boy continued to eat his food, paying only mild attention to the current conversation. As far as he knew, he wasn't included in this. Lawrence reached out to mess with Phineas' hair, which the boy avoided and yelled out, laughing "Dad! You're embarrassing me!" Lawrence just chuckled and teased back, an action which he rarely did "Serve you right for making us so worry like that"

Isabella, who had kept her silence the whole time and was watching the father-and-son interaction, suddenly tensed. Phineas paused and looked at her curiously "Are you alright, Isabella? What happened? You don't like the food?" Isabella shook her head and looked at her lap, the food was temporarily abandoned "N-no…the food is alright…it's just…I'm…" She said hesitantly and pressed her fingers together in an unusual display of shyness "…I'm sorry that the fireside girls have hurt you" She blurted out finally and looked down at her lap, the tremendous guilt weighted heavily on her shoulders. She looked up as she felt a hand touched her shoulder and Phineas was smiling at her with one of his kindest smile "It's alright, Izzy…really, I'm fine now…see? I for-" Whatever he was planning to say got stuck in his vocal as he managed to cough out "I'm not mad at you or anyone" He smiled and Isabella felt her heart soared. He was not mad at her!

Phineas, meanwhile, was observing Isabella's reaction very carefully. He knew that whatever plan he might have later would depend on her reaction and when he saw that she hadn't realized that he couldn't say the word _'forgive',_ Phineas was confident enough that he continued his next move. He leaned forward and without a word, his lips brushed softly against her cheek. It couldn't be mistaken for anything else than a kiss but it wasn't a loving kiss, either. Chuckling to himself, Phineas leaned against the wall again. He would let the audiences work out what kinds of kiss that was. Isabella, for her part, was too shocked to say anything. Phineas just kissed her! Phineas really just KISSED her! Her eyes automatically snapped to the calendar, checking for the day to memorize it for the rest of her life before her brain repeated again, the knowledge fully sank in. _Phineas just __kissed__ her! _The girl did the only logical thing she could think of at that moment.

She fainted.

Ferb stopped eating to look at Phineas and Isabella, his eyes locked with Phineas and he gave a small gesture with his head toward Isabella's limp form like he wanted to ask _'Is it really necessary?'_ Phineas, as usual, could read his thought and nodded pleasantly "Yes, yes it is". Ferb shrugged and looked down as his half-eaten lunch before taking another bite. He guessed it was time for Phineas to realize Isabella's love. Lawrence couldn't contain his amused chuckle anymore and the man gave Phineas a look before standing up and spoke, his amusement lingered in his voice "Please, excuse me, boys…I need to carry the young lady back to her house and explain why she fainted…I don't want people to have any funny ideas after all…" He picked up Isabella easily and began to walk out. Ferb looked up and called out "Father," His voice was louder than usual and Lawrence stopped at the door. Turning his head to face Ferb, the man asked, a little confused "Yes, Ferb?"

Flashed of memories about Lawrence appeared in front of Ferb's eyes. The Christmas' Eve when his Father hugged him, held his hand and before that, his Father was always there to help them, silently and without wanting anything back. He remembered the time when Phineas hadn't been a part of his life, when his Father had just divorced and how the man had tried his best to fill the void inside Ferb's heart. He remembered every bedtime story his Father had told him and he remembered the lullabies his Father had sung him to sleep, the man's voice was bad even if the lullabies were beautiful and Ferb remembered how he felt comforted by those gestures, how he had freely broken down in front of the man without shame. Taking a deep breath, Ferb said with a small smile "Thank you…" Lawrence was still looking puzzled "For what, Ferb?" The boy didn't answer and Lawrence shrugged before closing the door and carried Isabella out. His son was always an odd ball and sometimes, the man had a hard time understood what was running in his son's head. As he was completely sure that Lawrence was out of the earshot, Ferb finished "…for…_everything_".

Phineas didn't interrupt or ask Ferb any questions, which the older boy felt very grateful. He didn't and wouldn't admit it but leaving _was _a hard decision for Ferb. Leaving a day was one thing but leaving for who-knows-how-long was a completely different story. Ferb finished his lunch in silence and stood up. Ditching the remains into the wasted basket, he turned around and said abruptly "…give me till Sunday to…_prepare_" Phineas grinned and nodded "It's fine…I'll still have to wait until I can be out of here anyway…being coped up isn't my style." He looked at the window curiously and asked his best friend/stepbrother "Speaking of leaving… when can I be released?" Ferb didn't reply and instead, he walked to the calendar and tapped on it. _'The day after tomorrow? Good.'_ Phineas' grin widened slightly. The pre-teen scratched his head, looking very uncomfortable "Ferb? Would you mind giving me the tool box? I think I will go crazy if I don't invent something soon" Ferb didn't comment but instead, he took out the tool box from under the bed, and offered it to Phineas who took it gratefully. Looking around as if he was searching for something, Phineas asked Ferb, genuinely curious "Hey, where's Perry?"

* * *

"Ouch! Ouch! OUCH!" Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz yelled as he felt a kick from his sworn nemesis connected to his jaw, bringing him to the ground. He screamed to the platypus, one hand holding his cheek gently "What was **that** for? What the hell happened to you, Perry the platypus?" Since Christmas' Eve, the secret agent had been extremely violent to him. Every day, instead of thinking of a scheme and waiting for his nemesis like normal, Doofenshmirtz had begun to fear Perry's visit. He didn't understand what had happened to the platypus that made him react this strongly. He was sure he hadn't shot him with the Violent-inator. He wasn't sure if he had ever created that machine. Being forced to roll to one side to dodge another bunch, Doofenshmirtz grasped a pipe on the table and blocked Perry's attacks "Look here, I don't know what the hell happened to you but I swear it has nothing to do with me. Hell, I can't even fire anything for the past few days because of you so would you MIND STOPPING THIS CRAZY ATTACK AND EXPLAINING THING TO ME FOR ONCE?" However, apparently, Perry didn't share the same thought and with one swift movement, the agent shattered the steel pipe, making Doofenshmirtz defenseless. The Evil Scientist raised a hand to cover his head in a familiar movement – a reaction that everyone who was often hit in the head had. Perry halted as he looked at the source of his anger, his rage melted a bit as he realized this was the exact position of a child that was often abused or bullied but then his blood boiled again as he remembered Phineas' lifeless form. _This man _was the one that had harmed his owner indirectly with his useless invention.

His teeth chattered angrily and he grasped the scientist's collar, slamming the man's head into the ground. The man immediately passed out, blood seeped from his nose into the floor and Perry glared at the unconscious Doofenshmirtz once again before turning away. He moved stiffly to the man's latest invention and pushed the self-destruct button, instantly created a small explosion. His watch gave a small _beep_ and he cocked his head to a side and raised his hand, waiting for his boss to give out the next order or announce something. Major Monogram appeared on the small screen as a 3D picture and he cleared his throat. Looking at the mess his agent had made, the Major coughed to hide a nervous smile and he said, trying to keep his voice professional "Err… Good job, Agent P. You can take the rest of the day off…I have some good news for you. Look like your owner has awakened and he's looking for you. Monogram out." Perry allowed a small smile to make the corner of his mouth curled upward and he nodded.

Walking to the edge of the building and jumped down, Perry wondered how the rest of the family was doing. Maybe now that Phineas had woken up, he should be gentler to Doofenshmirtz. Shaking his head, the platypus looked at the city bellow; he would think about that later, now he had a house to go back. But wait a minute; hadn't Candace planned on making him take a bath later today? Perry sighed thoughtfully; maybe he should just visit Phineas directly in the hospital instead of coming home.

* * *

As Candace stopped running to take a deep, shaky breath, she felt someone touched her shoulder and she automatically jumped. Turning around, Candace sighed in relief when she realized it was just Jeremy "Hey, Jeremy…why are you here?" She asked and tried to straighten her skirt, feeling ugly since she hadn't put up any make-up today in favor of arriving to the hospital early to check up on her brothers. "Well, I just visited a friend…he had a little accident and well…he broke an arm" Candace nodded her head in understand and looked down, suddenly thought the floor was very interesting. Her distress must have shown on her face as Jeremy abandoned his smile, his face adopted a worried expression "What happened, Candace? Is Phineas alright?" Candace's throat tightened as her brother's name was mentioned but she nodded, unable to form her words. "Then why do you look like that? Candace…look into my eyes and answer me, _please_" Jeremy gently cupped her chin and forced her to look into his sky blue eyes.

Candace shifted her gaze to meet her boyfriend's and her lips quivered. Jeremy looked alarmed by now; his mind was racing a mile an hour and tried to figure out what had made his love so emotional. He could see the confusion, the sadness and the guilt swirled in those beautiful eyes and before he could react, Candace hugged him very tightly and began to cry. Jeremy, still confused, just patted her back and carefully leaded her to an empty bench. They both sat down and without any words, Candace began to tell her tale. She told him about the Christmas' Eve, how she had been mad because her Christmas was ruined and she hadn't been able to give Jeremy his gift, she told him about Santa, how she had yelled at her brother and how she had felt after that. She told him that she had expected forgiveness, the unconditional kind of forgiveness she had always received from her brothers and she told him about today. She described the chills, how her brother's smiles hadn't reached his eyes, how she felt when she saw the icy rage behind those normally cheerful blue orbs. Jeremy didn't interrupt her, not even for once as he held her hand and listened to her words. Finally, he cleared his voice and spoke quietly "I think I understand the problem…"

Candace looked at Jeremy with red, puffy eyes and sniffed "You do?" She asked, her voice was hoarse because of all the crying. Jeremy nodded solemnly and replied "Yes…the problem is…you haven't expected this kind of reactions from him…like you have said before, you had expected him to forgive you like he always did…and you felt shocked when he didn't." He tightened his hold on her hand as Candace looked down and sniffed. Jeremy continued "…and maybe you haven't completely forgiven him for what had happened on Christmas' Eve…" Candace opened her mouth to speak but Jeremy shook his head, asking her not to interrupt him and she became silent once again "…maybe you just need some time…both of you. Maybe you can do something nice for him, Candace…baking for him, giving him a card…something like that. He will understand…but you will have to admit something to me, your words were harsh…intentionally or unintentionally, you have hurt him. Maybe his wounds need something else to heal and not just medicine and a bed… I'm not trying to accuse you or anything but I'll be honest with you…"Jeremy finished and everything was silent. Candace could feel her heart beat fast when she was sitting this near to him. Candace looked at her boyfriend and bit her bottom lip. Maybe her words had been harsh…maybe Phineas was just as shocked as her when she said that…Maybe Jeremy was right and he just needed some time to cool down. Candace felt Jeremy squeezed her hand gently and she gave him a small, teary smile "you're right, Jeremy…my words…they were too harsh…I will make it up for Phineas…I promise"

"Candace, there…you…are" Linda panted as she caught up with her daughter, sweats ran down her forehead. Jeremy and Candace looked up as they saw Linda walked to the pair, a hand held tightly on her stomach "Why… did… you… run… away? Oh, Hello… Jeremy…" The woman asked between each heavy breath and greeted Jeremy who just gave her a shy wave "Hello, Mrs. Flynn. Nice to see you, too." Jeremy gave Candace a reassuring squeeze and the girl squeezed back before answered in a nervous voice "I'm just…. Happy to see my brother wakes up, that's all, Mom" She laughed nervously but held Jeremy's hand tighter when Linda observed her puffy eyes "Candace…why did you cry?" Jeremy looked at his girlfriend and answered for her "Ah well, Mrs. Flynn… it's just…Candace is happy to see his brother wakes up so she's quite…emotional and she's…err…afraid that her brothers would take it the wrong way so she came out here to… _release her tears_" He scratched the back of his head and winced mentally _'That's got to be the worst explanation ever…'_

Fortunately for the teens, Linda seemed to accept Jeremy's explanation and she gave her daughter a gentle smile "Silly dear, it's okay to cry in happiness, you know…do you want to go back? I think Phineas misses you" Candace glanced quickly at Jeremy and shook her head "I think I'll pass this time…I have something to…err" Jeremy smiled and nodded, encouraged her to continue. Candace took a deep breath and finished her sentence "…to prepare something nice for him when he comes back…" Linda's smile widened and she hugged her daughter "I'm proud of you…" Candace hugged her mother back and said after a moment of silence "…uhm…I'll just go home now, Mom… I'll see you later" The woman nodded and let go of Candace, who had grasped Jeremy's hand and walked away "Bye, Mom…and **don't** come to the kitchen until I finish, okay?" Linda chuckled and replied "sure, dear…"

As they both walked out of the Hospital, Candace stopped to take out her cellphone. Flipping it opened, Candace pushed the familiar button "Yes, Candace…what is it this time?" Her best friend – Stacy Hirano answered the call almost immediately. Candace played with her red lock of hair, a nervous habit she had developed since she met Jeremy "Hey, Stacy…are you free right now?" She bit her bottom lip, waiting for a reply as she stared at the street, thinking of a plan to make amends with Phineas and Ferb, too. "Yes, I am…do you need my help in anything?" Stacy asked, her voice turned curious suddenly. Candace nodded even though her friend didn't see it and answered "Yeah…I'm trying to…make it up for Phineas and Ferb and…well, I'm thinking of cooking something nice for them…you know…being a sister and all" Candace finished awkwardly. She wasn't afraid to ask help from her friends but this was the first time she had asked Stacy to help her do something nice to Phineas, a fact that she rarely, if ever, did "That's a great idea…Candace…I'm coming to your house" Stacy announced and cut off the connection abruptly. Candace held Jeremy's hand and practically dragged him to her house, feeling very energetic of all sudden "Let's go, Jeremy…It's a race to see who will come home first. Me or Stacy" As she was dragging Jeremy away, she didn't notice the smile on his lips or the mutters under his breath "That's my girl."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Andddd...cut! It's not much of a cliffhanger but believe me, next chapter will be much more interesting. Thank you for those who has read my story and special thanks to:

**iheartphinabella05**, **Guest**, and **Codelulu-chan** for commenting on my work. You are one of my many reasons to post this so soon.

See you again soon.

**Next chapter's title: Preparation and Invitations.**

Remember to read and review. I appreciate that a lot.


	3. Preparation and Invitations

**Author's Note: **

Here's the new chapter. It's actually shorter than I have expected...but oh well, the interactions between each character are still interesting and fun to write in my opinions. The real adventure will begin the next chapter...so, for now, enjoy reading this...Now, the disclaimer (I'm beginning to hate this part)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Phineas and Ferb.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Preparation and Invitations**

* * *

Phineas fidgeted uncomfortably on his seat as the doctor examined him carefully. Today was the day he would be released and to say Phineas was excited was a bit of an understatement. He was thrilled. "Does this place hurt?" The doctor asked Phineas and the boy shook his head, his hands were itching to grasp the tool box to build something. "Breath in deeply for me" The doctor ordered gently and the boy did what he was told, his eyes looked back and forth, obviously impatient with the whole examination. "Are we done yet?" He asked as the doctor gave him a look that obviously said _'you need to learn how to be more patient'_ but nodded and answered "Yes, it's finished…but remember, you have to take it easy for a few more days and **don't** do anything dangerous, okay?" Phineas nodded absently, only vaguely listened to the doctor's words. He wasn't going to follow the instruction anyway. Standing up, Phineas asked Ferb - who was standing outside the room, casually "Hey, Ferb…where's Mom?" Ferb shrugged and answered quietly "she's packing the clothes for us…" Phineas grinned and bounced on his feet "Great! Let's help Mom so that we can go home much sooner, huh?" The doctor scolded at Phineas' reaction and reminded him again "I thought I told you **not** to do anything hard for a few **days**?" Phineas turned and faced the doctor, his face looked sheepish "I'm sorry about that…can we go now?" The doctor gave him another disapproving stare before nodding and Phineas practically ran out of the room "Freedom!" He yelled and dragged Ferb with him, running and laughing along the way.

"Mom! I'm done! Can we go home now? Can we? Please?" An excited Phineas chattered happily and smiled brightly at his Mother who was currently busy packing Phineas' and Ferb's clothes "Give me a few minutes, dear…it's almost done…" Ferb almost smiled at his brother's tactics. He was still as excited as ever. It made Ferb really wondered if Phineas had really wanted to _'move out'_ from the family. Ever since Phineas announced that bold statement, Ferb had taken a habit of observing Phineas whenever he could and about everything such as Phineas' habits, characteristics, personality, actions, and emotions to see if it was really his brother but so far, except that unexpected or maybe really not that unexpected announcement and Phineas' kiss, Ferb hadn't seen anything suspicious about his stepbrother. Shrugging his shoulder, Ferb shook away the thought, maybe he was thinking too hard. "Okay, boys…I'm done…let's get to the car" Linda said out loud, pulling Ferb out of his thoughts and Phineas grinned again "Yes! I can't wait to come home…I'm all coped up in this place" Their Mother chuckled and nodded, helping them with the backpack "…okay, let's go home then…"

Phineas nodded frantically and took a seat from the back next to Ferb "Hey Ferb, do you have any plans today?" The car began to speed up and Ferb looked outside before shaking his head "That's awesome. Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!" Ferb raised an eyebrow, inviting Phineas to continue what he was going to say. Phineas took it as his cue and proclaimed "we're going to build a headquarter!" Ferb gave Phineas a look and glanced at Linda before he looked at Phineas again, silently asked _'You think it's wise to talk like that in Mom's earshot?'_ Linda, however, was oblivious to the whole situation and only chided the boys in a motherly tone "Be careful when you're playing, alright? I don't want you two to get hurt… and try not to make your sister mad, either…" She drove the care professionally and muttered under her breath "… How I can deal with Candace's phone calls every day is still a mystery to me" Phineas gave Ferb a victorious grin as if saying _'I told you so'_ but Ferb chose not to comment and instead, looking out of the window. Spotting a familiar figure, Ferb turned to face Phineas and asked "Does that man look a lot like Perry?" Phineas frowned at the question and looked out of the window. He scratched his head and asked again "Who looks like Perry?" Ferb frowned and looked out from the car's window; the Perry-like-human had disappeared. He shrugged and sat down. The rest of the ride was uneventful as Linda, Ferb and Phineas enjoyed the rare silence.

* * *

**Outside the car's window the moment Ferb spotted someone…**

Perry the Platypus sweated heavily as he listened to his owner's voice. Unlike a certain evil scientist he knew, Perry was sure that Ferb and Phineas could recognize him easily with or without the hat. Decided that this was a too dangerous situation, the secret agent pressed a button on his motorbike, activated the auto-drive system and jumped down; his paws-like-hands grasped the back of the car just in time for Phineas to look out of the window. Seeing nothing out of ordinary, the boy sat back down and Perry allowed himself to sigh in relief. It was a closed call. He continued to grip the back of the car to ride home. _' Well, at least Phineas seems alright now…'_ Perry thought as he eyed the boys. He hadn't been allowed to go to the Hospital in the end and was forced to stay at home. The semi-aquatic animal shuddered at the memory of Candace made him take a bath. It would certainly haunt him for years to come. Next time, he would wait for Phineas to clean him up. The platypus' thoughts drifted off somewhere else before the car stopped slowly, giving Perry plenty of time to return to his disguise – a mindless pet of the family. He jumped down and walked to the car door, waiting for Linda to open it. The woman stared at him curiously before calling over her shoulder "Hey, Phineas, Ferb…I think Perry is waiting for you two" Phineas peeked his head out and instantly, he saw Perry the Platypus, his beloved pet "There you're, Perry"

He opened the door and both Ferb and he walked out gracefully. Picking up his pet, Phineas gave his brother a grin "Hey, he's happy!" He hugged the platypus but paused. Moving the animal closer to his nose, he gave a short sniff "Eww… Candace made you take a bath, right? You reek of her perfume" Perry couldn't agree more but he had to play his part and only gave Phineas a grunt. Ferb eyed their pet and said in his usual British accent "maybe we can make him take a bath again if you like" Phineas pursed his lips, appeared to be thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head and replied "Nah… giving him a bath too many times will make him sick…" He faced his mother and said with a smile "Can I go to my room now?" Linda nodded but added as she saw the boys walked to the house "…but stop at the kitchen first…I think Candace wants to give you something" Phineas paused and answered hesitantly "…sure, Mom"

Carrying his pet to the kitchen, Phineas and Ferb walked passed Candace. The younger boy hardly paid attention to his sister "Mom said you wanted to give me…us something" Candace immediately stopped what she was doing and raced to the fridge. Pulling out a big box of ice cream, Candace gave them a small smile and nodded, trying to sound as friendly as she could "…Well, you remember the time when you guys gave me the ice cream for my date with Jeremy? I made this myself…I hope you like it" Phineas barely contained a sneer as he said coldly "I'm sorry but we're in the middle of something here" Ferb paused and Perry looked up at the boy's unusual display of cruelty and coldness. Candace seemed to be taken back as she tried to calm herself down and smile though her smile was incredibly forced "…W-well, I will just…put the ice cream back…maybe when you're free, you can eat it" Phineas snorted and Candace flinched slightly. She could see the disgust on his face easily "Don't bother, Candace…just eat all of it yourself…good day" Phineas walked out of the kitchen, followed closely by Ferb and Perry the platypus. Ferb shot Candace an apologetic smile and sped up a bit to catch up with his brother.

Candace stood in the middle of the kitchen; her whole body froze with shock. Slowly, her arms dropped and she put the ice cream into the fridge again. She knew she wasn't the best cook of the world but she had practiced making the ice cream for the last 2 days and she was fairly certain that it was not that bad. Candace let her head fall and her hair hid her teary eyes as her Mother walked to the kitchen "So, Candace…how did it go? Do your brothers like it?" Personally, Linda was proud of her daughter and the ice cream was quite delicious for an amateur, too. Candace tried to keep her voice steady and answered her Mother's question "Yeah, I think he likes it…I'm going to my room…call me if you need me, okay?" Linda nodded and turned to say something more to her daughter before she realized her daughter had already gone "Strange… I have thought Candace would stay here and brag a little bit before coming to her room… teenagers" The woman mumbled and opened the fridge. Taking out the ice cream box, she opened it and muttered to herself again "huh? The ice cream appears to be untouched…" She looked at the direction of her daughter's room, a thought flashed across her mind _'Why did Candace lie to me?'_

* * *

As Phineas sat on his bed and Perry had peacefully slept near them, Ferb opened his mouth and said calmly "I think maybe…" He took a deep breath and looked at the family picture on the wall – a picture where Candace's arms wrapped around the boys' shoulders and they were smiling happily. He continued after a pause "… we were a little too… _cruel_ to Candace… she tried to do something nice to us after all…" Phineas gave a slight sneer as he stood up and walked to the window "…yeah, right…as if you hadn't heard what she said to us on Christmas' Eve… she practically _disowned_ me, Ferb… do you think I will be alright after hearing all that shi-…stuff?" Phineas corrected himself as he nearly cursed out loud. Placing a hand on the window, his long fingers traced the frame, Phineas looked at Ferb suspiciously and accused "Or do you side with Candace now, Ferb? I thought we are brothers and best friends…" Placing a hand on his chest, Phineas mocked in a sad voice "…I'm hurt by your actions" Smirking slightly, the younger boy studied Ferb's reflection on the mirror, waiting for a reaction.

"**DON'T** say _that_, Phineas… you know it's **not** true" Ferb said sharply, almost angrily as he heard the accusation. To think that Phineas doubted his friendship and brotherhood was unacceptable. Ferb stood up and clenched his teeth, something he hardly did anymore "…I'm **your** brother and best friend…never doubt that. I will go with you until the end of the world" He walked to Phineas and placed a hand on the boy's thin shoulder, absently noticed that Phineas had lost weight...just like Ferb himself. Phineas' smirk widened very subtly that even Ferb missed it. The younger boy thought deviously _'Hook, line and sinker'_ He turned to face Ferb with a curious face "Do you really mean it? Is that a promise? Will you be loyal to me forever? And only to me?" Ferb looked surprised by a fraction of a second before nodding curtly "Yes, I am and will be loyal to you, Phineas Flynn and only to you… _forever… _or at the very least, until I _die_… it's a promise of a lifetime" Phineas surprised Ferb once again by hugging him suddenly. Ferb was never the type that liked those touchy moments like this but it was _okay_ if it was Phineas that hugged him. _'Or Vanessa… Vanessa is fine, too'_ the British boy added mentally. He returned the hug, albeit a bit more awkward until Phineas let him go "I'm holding you to that" He poked Ferb's chest playfully and sat down on the bed. Yawning, the boy said tiredly "Alright, enough with the hugs… what is the plan for today again? My hands are starting to get itchy" Ferb instantly returned to the stoic boy everyone knew and took out a small notebook. He gave it to Phineas and his stepbrother nodded "I… see. Packing first then…also, Ferb…move the _'build a headquarter'_ away… I was just kidding when I said that. We need to find a good spot first… a headquarter can come later." He handed Ferb back the notebook and the boy took out a pencil, crossed out a line and rewrote it. He offered Phineas his hand and the other boy took it, standing up with a swift movement. Stretching his limps, Phineas smiled brightly "Let's go… where's the list of the things we need to pack?"

* * *

"S-Stacy…what… what am… am I going… going to do… do now?" Candace sobbed and hiccupped as her best friend patted her gently "…Shhh, it's going to be fine… everything will be alright… just you wait and see" Candace, however, didn't hear Stacy's words or just chose to ignore it as she wailed even louder "Nooo, it would never be alright… Phineas hates me and Ferb hates me, too… my little _brothers_ hate me" Tears ran down her face as she hugged her ducky Momo toy closer, trying to seek comfort from the closet available source. Stacy, meanwhile, was at a loss. The moment Candace closed her door, she had called her best friend and of course, Stacy, being the best friend she was, came over almost immediately. Stacy could only understand the story vaguely based on Candace's muffed words. Apparently, Phineas didn't eat the ice cream… or an angry flock of bird ate it… Stacy wasn't sure which one was true since she didn't hear it clearly, though the later seemed a little too strange to be true. Then again, Candace Flynn was never really a normal teenager to begin with. No normal teenager had two geniuses for brothers…Stacy chewed her lips, silently wondered how the boys could be this cruel to their sister. She knew Candace could have a mean streak from times to times but she always felt guilty afterward and always apologized for her bad deeds. The boys both knew that her sister wasn't a cook but she had taken the time to personally make them ice cream. They could at least try it. Sighing heavily, Stacy shook her head. She shouldn't be wondering about things like that now, she should focus on comforting Candace first. She hoped the boys would come around soon. If not, Jeremy and she would have to have a serious talk with the boys.

* * *

Phineas sighed as he crossed out another useless items on the list. It wasn't everyday that you wanted to leave the family and had to write a list of things you needed to carry with. Apparently, Ferb has been slightly worried about the whole things and therefore, the list had grown dangerously long. Phineas had made it his mission to cross out the things that they wouldn't need. So far, he had only managed to cross out about a hundred items or so. The boy looked at the list and muttered "…let's see… clothes, good… towels, okay… giant baby head? What the-?" He hastily crossed that out and turned his head to face Ferb "Ferb, how's the ultimate backpack coming?" Ferb gave his best friend a thumbs-up and continued to work in silence. Phineas grinned and walked to where the older boy was working. He took the blue print on the table and studied it carefully "Remember, we have to make it so that all of our stuffs can fit in easily…plus, we have to design the weight-control device to help us carry the backpack easier. Let me help you with the device… I think I have a new idea in my mind" He began to calculate and draw something on the blue print. Taking out his phone, he called the delivery service. Ferb glanced at his brother briefly before working on the bag again. All was right with the world.

Today's project turned out to be harder than they thought and it had taken them nearly four hours to finish the bags. Scratching his head, Phineas turned to Ferb and questioned "Hey, where's Isabella, Buford and Baljeet? I haven't seen them today" Ferb tapped his cheek and shrugged his shoulder, indicated that he also had no idea where they were. Phineas grinned and put the last things they needed into the backpacks "alright, I think we have enough stuffs… you have put the mini lab and our tool boxes inside them, right?" Ferb nodded and Phineas clapped his hands together "Right, I know what other things we're going to do today… we're going to invite our friends to come with us" Ferb didn't reply but followed Phineas as the boy walked to the kitchen.

Linda smiled when she saw them and asked cheerfully "How was your day, boys? Did you have fun?" Phineas nodded and answered excitedly "Yes, Mom…we have a **lot** of fun… I'm going to go to my friends' house to invite them to come with us… please don't touch my packs on the backyard, 'kay?" Linda just chuckled and ruffed Phineas' and Ferb's head "Alright dear… I won't touch them… have fun" Phineas walked out of the door and smiled "We will, Mom…thanks" Ferb caught up with Phineas and asked quietly "… whose house do you want to go to first?" Phineas winked and replied "Isabella's, of course… Her house is opposite to our house, after all…" Ferb nodded and waited patiently until Phineas stood in front of the front door. He raised his hand, knocking the door and called out happily "Isabella? You're there?" The door opened and Isabella's mother – Vivian Garcia-Shapiro stepped out to greet the boys "Hello, Phineas, Ferb… it's good to see you… how are you feeling?" Phineas answered politely to her question "I feel very good today… uhm…is Isabella home, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro? We want to invite her to our house…"

Vivian smiled pleasantly as she heard Phineas asked about Isabella. Truth to be told, just like everyone else aside from Phineas – whom she had concluded to be the most oblivious person on the entire Danville, she knew about her daughter's crush on the intelligent boy. When Lawrence – Linda's husband brought home an unconscious Isabella, her heart was about to stop beating. But after hearing Lawrence's explanation, she had laughed in joy. It looked like Phineas did care for Isabella more than a friend after all. She felt slightly relief. She really didn't want her daughter to be broken at this early age. The day after that, Isabella and her fireside girls had decided to go on a small field trip to take some new patches. It was not that big of a deal, really but her daughter had insisted that Vivian would give Phineas a note if he came to her house to search for her. It looked like her daughter was right. Smiling gently, Vivian answered "I'm very sorry, Phineas… Isabella is on a trip with the fireside girls and won't be back until Monday…"

"Oh, that's… unfortunate" Phineas said, seemed genuinely surprised by the woman's answer. Ferb guessed that was because Isabella was always near them that they felt… strange knowing that the girl had gone somewhere else. Ferb nudged Phineas to remind the boy to be polite and Phineas hastily gave Isabella's Mother a short good-bye before walking out. "So, Isabella is not home… who should we visit next? Ah, I know… Baljeet!" Phineas mused and sped up, not even bothered to wait for Ferb as he ran to Baljeet's house. Ferb shook his head slightly and also increased his speed to catch up with his energetic brother.

* * *

Baljeet sighed as he looked out from the window. He had had the worst Christmas ever. On top of that, Phineas had been injured and so, all his plans to spend the holidays with new inventions had gone. Pouting to no-one, Baljeet tapped the pencil on his already finished homework, bored out of his mind. Without Phineas, Ferb and their inventions, the life in Danville had gone down as everyone seemed to miss the smiling boy. Pushing the pile of papers to one side, Baljeet laid his head on the table, staring at the window again. He wished he could hear Phineas' and Ferb's voice calling him to join one of their fun inventions. To be honest, Baljeet was jealous of the boys. Sure, he was intelligent and hard-working but he did not have that one thing the boys had – creativity. He had the knowledge but he could not turn them into real inventions like the boys always did. And the way they both worked perfectly with each other, like a machine, Baljeet was also jealous of them for that. However, he did not let the jealousy get on the way of his friendship. Maybe his jealousy had turned into admiration. Baljeet did not know for sure but he thought it would be nice to be included in one of the boys' big ideas again. Glancing at the perfect A+ homework on his desk, Baljeet, once again, wondered when Phineas would recover. It had been a long time.

"Baljeet, Phineas and Ferb 're here… they want to meet you" He heard his mother's voice and he rose from his seat, his head whipped back so fast he thought he had heard his neck snapped. "Are you sure, Mother?" He asked in disbelief, unable to believe his luck. "Yes, I'm sure… go and meet them" Baljeet nodded and walked out of his room, his clothes brushed against the door frame slightly as he barely contained his excitement. "Hi, Baljeet" Phineas waved as Baljeet walked out of the door and Ferb gave the other boy a polite nod. "Hello, Phineas, Ferb… It is good to see you are so well… the last time I saw you, you were on your way to the… you know, Hospital" Baljeet greeted and said hesitantly. Phineas chuckled and grinned before leading Baljeet outside "…it's alright… I'm fine now…" Ferb walked closely next to Phineas and studied Baljeet curiously. Seeing Ferb's stare, Baljeet cocked his head to one side and asked "…is there something you wish to talk to me? Do you have a plan for today?" Phineas nodded excitedly and laughed "Yep, the biggest plan ever… And I'm inviting you to join me" Baljeet immediately agreed without a second thought. After all, he **did** wish to join one of Phineas' plans, right? Phineas' grin widened and Baljeet questioned the boy, a hand scratched behind his neck in confusion "…but, what are we going to do today?"

"Well…" Phineas began, looking at Baljeet with great interest. Apparently, the boy had trusted Phineas enough to agree without knowing anything. Baljeet was just too easy to manipulate that Phineas almost felt bad for doing this to him, almost. "…we're going to leave" Phineas finished and watched as the confusion on Baljeet's face seemed to double itself "…what do you mean by that? Leaving? Where? When? Why?" Phineas noticed that Ferb had suddenly become very interested in his answer as well, probably because of the question _'Why'_. Phineas shrugged his shoulder and answered nonchalantly, ignored the curious looks from Baljeet and Ferb "…Well, while I was in the Hospital, I have done some thinking… you know what… we have potential… all of us, me, Ferb, you, Buford, Isabella, the fireside girls… and I thought… well, it would be a waste if all we did are wasting our talents… Seriously, just look at us. I am practically an A-ranked architect and Ferb is one of the best engineers in the world. You're a genius, Baljeet… though you lack of certain _qualities_, you're still smart… plus, you have a photographic memory… Isabella and the fireside girls… well, they **are** a great team… they work perfectly with each other under Izzy's guidance. Buford…err… well, Buford is a _great_ guard, don't you think?" Phineas explained, hesitant at the last part. Seeing Baljeet gapping like a fish and Ferb's blank expression, Phineas sighed dramatically and asked "Haven't any of you think what it'll be like for us to show our true skills? People don't respect us and our families think we're just normal pre-teen school children. Frankly, it's driving me mad… I want to invent things freely. I want the world to recognize _us_." Baljeet nodded slowly, starting to understand what the boy was talking about. It was true to some certain extend, he guessed. Sometimes, Baljeet wanted to show his family some of his more potential chemical mixtures but he didn't dare to. He feared that his family would force him to go to some private schools with stuck-up kids or go to some schools for gifted children where he knew he would have to fight for his grades and wouldn't have the chance to make friends. It had taken a long time for him to make friends with great people like Phineas and Ferb and honestly, he didn't want to lose them. Chewing his lip nervously, Baljeet finally spoke "I… understand what you are trying to say… and… to some certain extend, I agree whole-heartedly with your ideas. However, leaving everything behind is not really a good choice, either. I would love to go with you guys but I do not want my family to worry about us. Plus, there are too many unknown factors in this… _adventure_. It is too dangerous… Have you taken precautions?"

Phineas smirked as he listened to Baljeet's questions as he began to answer the question "…Well, first of all, you don't have to worry about our families. We'll just write a letter to explain things to them… Now, I understand that it won't probably do much to help them but we only go for a short time, say… five or six months… Yes, yes… We'll miss schools and stuffs but when we come back, we won't even need school anymore… In those months, we'll do something big enough so that no one, women or men, children or adults, doctors or engineers can argue that we don't have potential… Do you understand what I'm trying to say? It means that we will show the world our real selves… no holding back. How great will it be?" Phineas waved his hand wildly, obviously excited with the whole new prospect. Tapping his chin, the boy continued shortly "…as for dangers… please, spare me that, Baljeet… do you think we won't be able to build a headquarter secure enough for those_ tiny_ threats? We'll finish the headquarter in a day… trust me" It was Ferb's turn to look thoughtful now. He could understand Phineas' reasons perfectly and he knew he had enough skills to do what Phineas wanted. The question was… Why and when did Phineas become this ambitious? Ferb decided to keep the questions to himself. He was a man of actions and he would find out the answers by himself.

Nodding to himself, Ferb looked at Baljeet to observe his reaction. Baljeet was frowning as he was deep in thoughts now. It was a hard decision, Ferb knew that. However, true to Phineas' words, if they succeeded in doing this, they would be considered geniuses and would be treated according to their real talents and not just _'unusual intelligent'_ children. Finally, Baljeet seemed to come to his decision. He looked at both Phineas and Ferb, the confusion was still swirling behind those orbs but he nodded nonetheless "I… I will go with you, Phineas, Ferb… I want my family to be proud of me, too… Last semester, I had an A- and my family thought I was a disgrace… I even had to hang the curtain of shame… I…" He said hesitantly and seemed to be out of breath "…I want to prove to them that I am not useless" Twisting his hands into a knot, Baljeet looked down at his feet, unsure of his decision. But he trusted Phineas. He had never let Baljeet down before and helped Baljeet whenever he could. Maybe this was the time Baljeet returned the favor. He looked up as Phineas put his hand on Baljeet "I know you'll make a good decision… Glad to know that you'll join us…"

Baljeet gave Phineas a genuine smile and nodded, seemingly more sure about the decision. Ferb decided it was time to end the conversation and tapped Phineas' shoulder, getting his attention "…I assume that we'll head to Buford's house next?" Phineas gave a cheerful _'uhm-hm' _and grinned "…Yep, let's head to our favorite bully's house"

* * *

Buford was having a typical day. Currently, he was bullying two little boys as they were unlucky enough to get on his bad side. Grinning maliciously, Buford grasped the lollipop from a boy's hand, making him cry. "Hah, that's what you get for trying to mess with me" To tell the truth, Buford was getting bored lately. He wanted to meet up with his friends but another side of him, the softer side that would only come out if Biff was missing, didn't want him to go and annoy them. And so, sitting in his house with nothing to do, Buford had tried to find new bullied targets to replace Baljeet but they were too quick to cry and too boring for him to make anything. Buford watched with mild interest as the boys ran back to their houses, no doubt wanted to tell their parents about him. Oh well, it was not like Buford cared. Licking the lollipop, the boy sat on the bench, making himself comfortable. He grimaced as he looked at the candy in disgust. It was too sweet for his taste. He wanted his _'tough gum'_ and he wanted Baljeet to buy it for him. Unfortunately, he hadn't met with Baljeet lately, either. Dropping the candy on the ground and stepped on it, Buford effectively crushed the pink piece of sweet and he relaxed again, letting the spring gentle breezes teased with his short hair. Who said Buford could not be romantic?

"There you are, Buford… we're looking all over the place for you" Buford heard a familiar voice and he looked to his right in shock as he saw Phineas, Ferb and Baljeet walked to him. Trying to regain his emotions, Buford asked arrogantly "What do you want, Dinner Bell? I thought you're still in the hospital?" Phineas grinned and sat down next to Buford without even asking for the other boy's permission. He knew his friends too well "…You're right… But I just got out of the Hospital today… so, I thought of doing something and tada, here I am… inviting you to join our newest project" Buford snorted and asked "…depends… will it help me to have more bully opportunities?" Phineas nodded and smirked "…Yep, it will give you plenty of opportunities… so, you're in?" Buford was looking at Phineas in confusion now. Something was…_ off_ with Phineas. Buford was a very observant boy. Though he did not show this side of him often, he was very good at spotting the differences in a person. It probably came with his experience in bullying different types of people. Even though Buford wasn't smart or creative, he could read a person eyes' movements and vaguely guess what they were thinking or what kinds of person they were. That was why Buford liked bullying Baljeet so much. Despite the abuse he inflicted on the other boy, Baljeet's eyes shone neither hatred nor anger at Buford and still considered Buford his friend. Plus, his screams were like music to Buford's ears. That was always a nice bonus.

Shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts as they began to sway into a dangerous territory, Buford tried to focus on Phineas once again. The other boy's eyes were different. They were darker, more dangerous… Buford realized those eyes. They weren't the eyes of a prey. They were the eyes of a predator. Whatever had happened to Phineas, it had changed the other boy greatly. He was no longer an innocent boy that loved inventing things. _'He is…'_ Buford swallowed a lump in his throat as he came into conclusion _'He's a dangerous creature that I have to avoid at all cost now…'_ Taking a shaky breath, Buford showed no strange reaction as he raised an eyebrow "...cat eats your tone, Dinner Bell? What's your big project?" Buford had predicted many things from beating someone, to taking over the tri-state area to even world domination but he almost fell out of the bench as he heard Phineas' answer "We're leaving"

Buford asked as if Phineas had just lost his mind "Leaving? Leaving to where? And what do you mean 'we'?" Phineas shrugged and pointed toward where Ferb and Baljeet were standing, both of them were too deep in their own conversation to pay attention to Phineas and Buford "I mean it… Ferb, Baljeet and I are leaving to… hmm… make people recognize our talents" Buford huffed and crossed his arms "…Recognizing your talents? And how do you intent to do that exactly? World domination?" Seeing Phineas' evil smirk, Buford had a sinking feeling that he had just unleashed a monster "…Well, what do you know… it's a nice suggestion… but this is my general idea…" And with that, Phineas began to give Buford the exact explanation he had given to Baljeet earlier. Grinning brightly, Phineas asked "…so, Buford… do you want to join us?"

Buford's first instinct was to say _'no' _and be over with it but he held it back. It was time to act smartly. Making an enemy out of Phineas in this state would be a very, _very_ bad idea and like the rest of the gang, Buford knew about the boy's potential and to make Phineas think he's an enemy would be his worst decision ever. Besides, Buford doubted Phineas really needed his talents. Perhaps Phineas only wanted Buford as a bodyguard, nothing more, nothing less and Buford wouldn't risk his life trying to protect someone that could protect themselves perfectly like Phineas here. He chose his words carefully and answered "…Well, I'll think about it… Give me till Sunday to give you the answer… If I come to your house when you leave, then I'll leave with you… if not, I'm staying here…" Phineas nodded, his eyes darkened slightly and Buford gulped. He hoped he had chosen his actions right. "Okay, Buford… I'm waiting for a positive answer" Phineas smiled finally and stood up.

Clapping his hand to get Baljeet's and Ferb's attention, Phineas watched as the boys came over to his side. "Buford wants some more time to think about it…" Phineas announced to the boys as they nodded in understanding. Phineas sighed and ran a hand through his red hair, an action that was very un-Phineas-like. He opened his mouth to speak again "…Well, here's the plan… Sunday, at… _hmm…_ say, 5:00 AM, we're going to wait for you guys in front of my house… once you guys come, we'll depart… Remember to write letters or whatever you want to do to announce your family of your leave. Any questions?" Baljeet raised his hand shyly and Phineas raised an eyebrow, waiting for the boy to speak "…Well, what about Isabella? We haven't come to her house yet" Phineas smiled and answered "…good question. Apparently, Isabella and the rest of the fireside girls are camping outside the city to earn some patches or something… When she comes back, we'll contact her… and yes? What else, Baljeet?"

Baljeet poked his fingers together and asked again "…and why do we have to leave so soon? 5:00 AM… is…very early" Buford wanted to roll his eyes and replied something sarcastically like _'Wow, that's very observant of you… what's the news?' _but he held it back and watched as Phineas answered carefully "…Well, tomorrow, we'll build a machine that will make everyone sleep deeper except for certain people… So, when we leave, I will active the device so no one will notice that we've gone and until they wake up, it's already too late to search for us… plus, people often say _'the early birds get the worms_' or something, right?" Ferb and Baljeet nodded while Buford showed no reaction.

The wheels of fate had begun to change direction.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So, you have finished reading the chapter... what do you think? Is it bad? Or is it okay? I know that there're many grammar and vocabulary mistakes but believe me, it's hard to write without a beta-reader. Please read and review. Also, please forgive me for making any characters out of character (beside Phineas, I intent to make him out of character for later plots... you'll understand soon) I will see you again next chapter.

Ja~

P/S: I have a small favor I want to ask you guys... you see, I have very short attention span so I often write two stories or more to distract myself and to make the current story I write less boring. I have many ideas I want to try out but I can only do one or two more stories. Would you guys mind checking out the ideas and giving me an advice or two about which one(s) I should write next? Thanks a lot.

Also, thank you **iheartphinabella05** for reviewing the story. Thanks a lot XD.

**Next chapter: Off we go - The journey begins**


	4. Off we go, the journey begins

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the late update. I have a bad case of writer block. This is the next chapter of my darker self. Please enjoy. Oh, and before I forget. Onto the disclaimer part.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Phineas and Ferb or make any money out of this.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Off we go - The journey begins**

* * *

**Somewhere in Phineas' mind…**

**"It was never your choice in the first place…sweet dreams, Phineas…I will take care of things from now on"**

Phineas woke up with a gasp and the boy immediately sat up, rubbing his eyes and breathing heavily. He looked around, trying to recognize the room he was in. "Phineas, you have awakened! Oh my gosh, I was so worried about you!" A voice said and before Phineas could react, the young boy had been tackled down by his sister, who was hugging the living hell out of him. "C-Candace…" Phineas said in surprise as he saw his sister crying into his shirt, staining it with her streams of tears "…t-take it easy, sis… I'm completely fine, see?" Slightly freaked out because of his sister's sudden outburst, Phineas stammered and asked uncertainly "uhm… so… uhm… where's Perry?" Candace looked confused because of the question and she asked him again "Which Perry?"

This time it was Phineas' turn to look confused "…Which Perry? What do you mean by which Perry? **Our** Perry! Perry the platypus!" Linda suddenly came into his room and patted him on his head "Oh, you silly boy… every platypus in the world's named Perry…" Chewing his bottom lip, Phineas cocked his head to one side and scratched his head, feeling extremely confused "…B-but I thought every platypus would only be named Perry in my perfect world" Candace chuckled and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye "…silly Phineas… Let's go and invent something, 'kay? I heard Ferb had a really good idea" Phineas opened his mouth and closed it again, gapping like a fish at his sister's suggestion "…C-Candace? You d-don't want to bust me anymore?"

Linda looked at her soon worriedly and helped Phineas walk out from his room "…Are you alright, Phineas? Do you feel unwell?" Candace just put a hand on his shoulder and smiled sweetly "…Why do I want to bust you, Phineas? You are the most wonderful brother every sister can ever dream" Phineas looked at his sister and then at his mother again before nodding carefully and walked downstairs "…Okayyyyy… I really don't know what just happened but I think… I will go to the backyard now… See you later, Mom, Sis…"

Walking to the backyard, Phineas realized with a jolt that all of his friends had already been there and were now waiting for him. Apparently, they had thrown him a party of some sort. Opened the door and then walked out, Phineas was tackled to the ground by a bone-crushing hug from Isabella "…Oh, Phineas… I was so scared" Phineas looked around to search for his stepbrother – Ferb only to see that he had already stood next to him, wearing an amused expression "…Not funny, Ferb… Help me get up" The younger boy grumbled slightly and accepted Ferb's offered hand. Pulling Isabella up with him, the boy smiled brightly and gave his childhood friend a wink as Isabella blushed shyly and looked down.

"Whatcha' doin'?" The girl asked and Phineas laughed, finding his friend's shyness strangely cute. "…Nothing much though I'm planning to go the cinema with Ferb this afternoon, you wanna come?" Isabella shot Ferb a look that Phineas couldn't guess and she asked, her voice sounded slightly sad "…with Ferb?" Ferb quickly interpreted and shook his head "…I can't come this afternoon. I have plans. You can come with Isabella alone, Phineas…" Phineas's brows furrowed and he spoke up after a short pause "…I thought you said you were free today, Ferb?" Ferb shrugged and Phineas gave up trying to convince his stepbrother. Turning his head to face Isabella, Phineas asked "…so, just you and me, I guess… hope it doesn't bother you too much" Isabella instantly jumped in joy and squealed "…I'm so glad to hear that…" Covering her mouth, Isabella cleared her throat and said, sounding considerably calmer "…I mean it doesn't bother me at all… It's fine… really" Phineas nodded and grinned "…Okay then, let's enjoy the party, shall we?" Ferb nodded and leaded the pair to a table covered with food of all kind. He said simply "dig in" And with that, the party began. Phineas laughed as he heard Buford joked with Baljeet.

"This is great! It's just like the perfect world in my dream!"

* * *

**Somewhere else…**

He opened his eyes and blinked blankly at the ceiling. This was the day. This was the all-or-nothing moment. Turning his head to look at his alarm clock, the boy with red hair sat up and took hold of his thing. It was 4:30 AM, just the perfect time for him to prepare it all. Carefully put the clock back on the nightstand, Phineas stepped out of his bed and stretched himself quietly. He looked at the other bed where his stepbrother was sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the other boy's intention. The red head walked slowly to his stepbrother and raised a hand to touch the boy's shoulder. "Wake up, Ferb… it's time" The boy called out to the boy named Ferb and the other boy stirred slightly but didn't wake up. "Uhmm…" Ferb grunted and curled into the warm blanket, making the red head frown. "Wake up, Ferb… I'm not repeating it again… I'm leaving you behind…" The boy whispered in Ferb's ear.

"I'm up; Phineas… give me a min… I'm not used to getting up at this god forsaken hour…" Ferb grunted grumpily, making the boy who had been identified as Phineas smiled at the uncharacteristic behavior coming from the stoic boy. Ferb rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned before sat up and looked around, noticing the dark sky outside the window. "What time's it?" Ferb grunted again and massaged his temper, trying to get rid of his killer headache. "4:30" Phineas answered curtly and Ferb groaned, buried his head in his hands. Phineas scolded and turned away to stuff something into his backpack "Quit complaining and start working on activating the machine, Ferb. We don't have all day" Ferb nodded and walked into the bathroom to wash his face.

As he came out, feeling a little better than before, Ferb took out a machine from underneath his bed. In fear of their inventions disappeared like every day and thus ruining their plan, Phineas and Ferb had decided to hide the invention away. Thankfully, because of some miracles, the device was still in one piece for two days. _'It's got to be some kind of record, Candace not busting us for once and the inator is still in one piece at the end of the day'_ Ferb thought and rearranged the inator so it could be activate properly.

Phineas was working on his own project – a machine that could erase all traces of the boys except the people's memory, from the school records to the delivery service records… just like they had never existed. It would be better this way until he had finished his job, he had to make sure no one know that it was them who made it all happen. Despite telling his friends to write a letter for their family, Phineas and Ferb hadn't written anything. Ferb merely assumed that it would take little to no effort to make people recognize their talents and they would be back in no time while Phineas felt no need to do so. After all, why bothered with something so small like that? As he prepared to press the last button, he felt something tugged his pants. Looking down, Phineas almost scolded again as he saw his pet platypus – Perry. Apparently, the creature was trying to stop him from leaving. He tried to make the frown on his face disappear and gently grasped Perry before putting him in his own pet. "Sleep well, Perry… I'll be back in no time…" He reassumed the platypus, only to have it gripped his pants tightly again. "Bad Perry, bad!" Phineas said sternly and put the platypus on the bed again.

"What's wrong with him today? I thought he was just a mindless pet" Phineas muttered and pushed the button on his own device, creating a small ripple in the air. Phineas and Ferb felt a strange tingling feeling before it was all over. Phineas had done it. He had erased his and his brother's existence. Funny how all it took to erase an entire worth of history with only a push of the button. Perry looked around, obviously felt the unfamiliar feeling and Ferb raised an eyebrow as he also studied his pet "…Well, he's a platypus. They don't do much" He commented quietly and put the machine on Phineas' bed. It was small filled with many small buttons and was obviously waiting to be activated. The red head nodded and looked at his own device before pushing the self-destruct button, effectively destroyed the machine without creating any noises.

"Are you ready, Ferb?" Phineas asked, grinning for the first time since he woke up. Ferb gave a silent nod and Phineas' grin widened. "Please do the honor, Ferb" Phineas' smile turned into a smirk as Ferb only nodded once again, oblivious to a certain platypus' growing horror. Slowly, his long fingers traced the device and with one swift movement, Ferb pushed the button. He looked up at his brother and said softly "…it's done"

* * *

Perry didn't know what was going on with his owners but he knew one thing for sure. There was something seriously wrong with them, with Phineas especially. Perry had detected the slightest changes in the boy's behaviors; something that he knew except for an excellent observer or a secret agent (like himself for example) no one would notice the changes. He had seen Phineas secretly ate less cereal than before… a food that he had previously liked very much. He had seen Phineas ate more Limburger Cheese – a food, which if he was right, was one of Doofenshmirtz's favorite food – a strange coincidence indeed. He also knew the younger boy was beginning to add a self-destruct button to his devices now… no, pardon him… to his _'inator'_ now. Perry was pretty sure (read it: completely sure) that it had got to relate to his nemesis somehow but he couldn't make the connection between those spots.

Today, he had woken up because of some strange noises. Once he had opened his eyes sleepily, he had encountered with a strange sight. His owners were packing and preparing some kind of strange machines. His instinct kicked in and he immediately knew something was seriously wrong as Phineas shook Ferb and whispered for him to wake up. Did they want to leave? Why? What happened? What did he miss? Was there some kind of argument? There were a million questions running through Perry's head but only one thought in his mind. He had to stop this… somehow and without blowing his cover.

And so, with the appearance of a mindless pet, Perry had bitten Phineas' pants, trying to stop him from leaving. He had been put into his bed rather forcefully by his owners but that didn't stop him from trying to stop them. But…nonetheless, he was too late. When Phineas pushed the button, he instantly knew something had happened. He could feel the slight ripple and he could see the summer homework of Phineas and Ferb from where he was sitting, the letters with the names were being erased. He could not stop it… whatever it was. He had failed them.

When Ferb's finger touched the second button, Perry was ready to just jump up and bite the older boy's hand but once again, he was a second too late. The moment Ferb activated the device, Perry felt his eyelids dropped and he honestly panicked. Trying to blink rapidly to clear his vision, Perry let out a mighty yawn and he blinked again.

And again.

But it hadn't helped. Perry felt his strength leaving him and with a sinking feeling, Perry realized exactly what the device was. It was making him sleepy. The platypus raised his palm and tried to reach for his owners but they didn't turn back to look at him. _'No, no, no… this is not happening'_ Perry thought as he felt his nightmare became real. Well, one of his nightmares anyway. His owners were leaving him behind. _'Please don't leave, Phineas, Ferb… please don't…'_The secret agent thought depressedly and he felt the darkness closed around him… And with that, Perry fell asleep. It was an uneasy sleep filled with nightmares and strange machines. _'I'm sorry… I have failed you'_As Perry curled into a tight ball, he failed to notice that Ferb had slipped a small piece of paper on the table.

* * *

Phineas closed the door behind him, Ferb followed him closely. The older boy turned to look at Phineas and asked, a little hesitant "…Are you sure that we can't bring Perry with us?" Phineas raised his eyebrow and answered bluntly "we can't bring him with us. He will only bring us down… if we want to finish our job fast and clear… we can't have a dead weight like that…" Ferb bit his lips but didn't reply. Walking with Phineas, Ferb felt strangely sad for some reasons. He was leaving his family behind to chase after some goals that he did not know the price yet… or that it would success or not. He was blindly following Phineas but Ferb found out that he really didn't mind that. After all, Phineas was his brother, right? As he lost in his thought, Ferb felt someone grasped his wrist and he looked up to find that Phineas was gripping him tightly. "Let's go, Ferb… like I said before, I don't have all day…" Ferb felt a slight blush crept up his cheek and he nodded "Alright, let's go to the meeting place". Phineas grinned widely and leaded Ferb to the backyard where his friends were waiting for him. Phineas wondered if Buford was coming with them or not… though to be honest, he didn't really think Buford would come.

Arriving to the meeting place not five minutes later, Phineas gave a short snort as he realized the only person beside him and Ferb was Baljeet. Apparently, Buford had decided to go against their wish. Phineas shrugged _'Oh well, it's not like I need someone like him… I can find bodyguards everywhere in the world'_ Baljeet looked up from the bench where he was sitting; a sad smile graced his lips. "Hey, Phineas, Ferb" He greeted his companions and stood up. "Baljeet" Phineas grinned and nodded before taking a seat on the bench where Baljeet had previously seated, accidentally making Baljeet his left-handed man and Ferb his right-handed one. "So… I take it you will leave with us then?" Phineas asked finally after taking a deep breath, his hand ran through his messy red hair.

"…Yeah, I… I will leave with you guys" Baljeet replied reluctantly, his fingers gripped the hem of his shirt and he fidgeted nervously. Phineas looked at his friend and asked curiously, temporarily ignored Ferb for the time being "…what's wrong, 'Jeet? You look… uncertain… Are you doubting us? Or are you doubting yourself?" Baljeet shook his head before sighing heavily. He intended to take a seat next to Phineas but cowered slightly under the boy's sharp glare. Needless to say, he got his message pretty clear "…N-no, Phineas… It is not that… I just… well, Buford and I are always together… it does not matter if it relates to one of your big ideas or not… It is just… now, I have realized that Buford is not going to join us this time… and I… I… I do not know how I should feel about that" Baljeet said hesitantly, taking a pause each time he had to find the right words.

"Ah, I see the problem here…" Phineas gave Baljeet an understanding look, a look that made the other boy distinctively uncomfortable. The boy with red hair leaned forward and smirked as he saw Baljeet took a step backward "…Tell me something, 'Jeet… Do you **like** Buford?" Ferb, who had kept his silence until that moment, cocked his head to one side at Phineas' strange, seemingly unrelated question. Baljeet shook his head frantically and answered almost too quickly for his liking "N-no, of course not… All Buford does is bullying me… I do not **like** him… N-no… it is just a typical Nerd – Bully relationship that we share…" Phineas snorted and studied his nails before asking nonchalantly once again "…Oh? Is that so? Then what is this reaction am I seeing?" Baljeet shook his head, more forcefully this time and said, his voice was unsteady but he seemed more sure with his answer now "…I do not like him, Phineas… please stop asking such questions… I do not feel very comfortable answering them"

Phineas stood up abruptly, earning a flinch from Baljeet and he nodded, pleased with his companion's answer. When he did speak again, his voice was as hard as steeled and as cold as ice "…That's the answer I want to hear, 'Jeet. I will personally make sure you won't betray me…" Smirking, he gave a small gesture with his hand and walked three steps ahead of Ferb and Baljeet, creating a small distance between them "I can be… hmm… _unforgiving_ sometimes, you know…" He grinned when he noticed a small chill running down Baljeet's spine. Good! He had the right reaction. Ferb took two steps forward while Baljeet only took one. With Phineas leading them, Ferb followed next and Baljeet was the last one, the deadly triangle was complete. The fate of the world lay within the boys' clutches now. Baljeet looked at the sky as the red sun rose slowly from the East. Somehow, he had the feeling that he just signed a contract with a devil. _'But that cannot be right, right? Phineas is a friend, no?'_ The Indian boy thought uncertainly but still followed them. He hoped his parents would read his letter and understand his motivation.

* * *

Today was a sad day for the evil scientist Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He was wearing a gray coat unlike his usual white lab coat and his right hand clutched a pen, his heart felt like it had been stabbed a million times by a rusted knife as his eyes kept looking at the bouquet of white roses on the table. He had woken up at exactly 5:00 AM and was now writing a note for Perry the platypus – his nemesis to tell the secret agent that he wouldn't create any evil machines today so the agent could go home. So far, he didn't have any luck. Throwing the useless piece of paper on the trashcan, Doofenshmirtz gripped his hair with his hands, buried it deep in his chest as his shoulder shook with silent sobs. He just sat there, his shoulder continued to tremble but no tear came out, the despair rolled out from his body like waves. The sun was slowly rising. Finally, the middle-aged man looked up and wiped away a non-existed tear with his palm as he sloppily wrote his note again for the hundredth time that morning.

'_Dear Perry the platypus,_

_Don't bother waiting for me or destroying my inator. I don't make anything today… I'm out for some personal business. Farewell._

_Your nemesis,_

_Dr. Doofenshmirtz'_

The note was short but straight to the point and served its job perfectly. Doofenshmirtz looked at his handwriting and his gaze lingered on the words _'personal business'_ a tad bit latter but then he stood up, grasped the flowers and headed out. Sticking the note on his door, the evil scientist silently closed the door and with one final look, he went downstairs, didn't even bother to use the elevator.

* * *

He arrived to the graveyard just 30 minutes later, his back covered with sweats as he walked the whole way there. He walked to the burial ground, his shoulder slumped and he looked like he hadn't slept for a week. He absently heard someone greeted him but he was too emotional to greet back but instead, ignored said person and walked to his destination. Stopping in front of two small tombs, Doofenshmirtz let the first tear fell as he read the names. "It's me, Heinz… I'm here…" He said, his voice choked with unbearable sadness as he knelt down, his fingers traced the name on one tomb. He whispered to the cold stone, and placed the white roses down, another tear ran down his face "…I brought you some roses… you said white was your favorite color, love… H-how are you down there? A-are you cold?" Doofenshmirtz choked once again, his voice was thick with emotions. Another silent tear ran down his face. "I'm s-sorry for not coming here earlier… I have to write a note for my nemesis – Perry the platypus" His forehead touched the gray stone as he continued, forcing his voice to be faked cheerful "…You remember when we w-were together… how I loved to have a nemesis?… I-I have one now… He's an okay guy… you know, for a platypus… we f-fight a lot…"

Doofenshmirtz gritted his teeth, his eyes suddenly filled with new tears "B-but no matter what, he _can't_ fill the void inside of me, love… I need you, Elizabeth… God, I need you, I miss you so badly, my love…" The evil man was breaking down at this point; the salty tears ran down his cheeks mingled with the guilt and the raw pain making it _hurt_. Trying to calm himself down, Doofenshmirtz whispered, a tint pride was detected in his voice "Vanessa came over yesterday… she is growing up into such a wonderful girl…" He said but then looked down and wiped the tears away "…Charlene called… she was worried… I t-told her I was f-fine…" He became quiet as his eyes suddenly became much older, much tired like a person who had been forced to see too many dark things in this world. "Norm still insists that I'm his f-father… though I still say _'no'_… he ca-can't replace S-Sa… _him…_ he _can't_ replace _him,_Elizabeth…" Doofenshmirtz grasped his chest as he couldn't say the name, it brought a new wave of agony and he just _couldn't_ bear it.

"You must be scolding at me right now, love… I'm sorry… I know I shouldn't treat Norm like that but I can't bring myself to say the word… it _hurts_. I'm afraid, Eli… I'm so afraid…" He confessed, his hands were bleeding because he had clutched them too tightly but he paid it no mind. "…I'm sorry… it was my fault that you died… it was my entire fault… I'm sorry, I'm so very _very_ sorry, Eli… please come back…" He uttered, another tear slid down his pale cheek. "…_please…_" He sat there for a whole hour before moving to the next tomb. Looking at the name, Doofenshmirtz let out a shaky laugh "Hello, lad… how are you?" His bleeding palm touched the tomb lightly and at that moment, Doofenshmirtz felt the true meaning of pain as he felt like _it_ had happened again in front of his eyes. "Y-you know what, I brought something for you, too…" Searching his pocket, Doofenshmirtz pulled out a small Norm figure, just large enough to fit in his palm and placed it in front of the tomb "... you always said you want a brother… I created one for you" He said sadly as the tiny Norm spoke up "Hi, I'm Norm"

Watching the robot paced back and forth, Doofenshmirtz continued painfully "…I have made a mistake… but I can't fix it… I'm sorry… forgive this dad for not even letting you rest properly, son". Bowing his head, the man whispered as he looked at the morning sky "…I-I wish I hadn't done that… but I… I'm sorry, son… I'm too weak…" Buried his head in his hands, Doofenshmirtz shook his head and cried "…I don't even have the courage to face my mistake… _he_looks so happy that I don't want to destroy it, son… I don't want to destroy you… again" He sniffed and wiped away the tears again, this time with his sleeve. He breathed shakily and softened his voice even more "…do you remember that day, son? It was so different from today… it was raining heavily… and I remember there was even lightning… you said you were afraid of lightning and thunder, right?..." He closed his eyes and leaned against the tomb, ignored everything around him until he heard a certain voice "…stop moping around, Doofenshmirtz"

"Monogram… what are you doing here?" Doofenshmirtz looked up and saw the man. Like himself, Major Monogram had ditched his usual clothes to wear a black jacket and brown pants, his face was solemn and his eyes were glaring mercilessly at Heinz Doofenshmirtz "…The same reason as you, I suppose…" He said through gritted teeth and pushed the evil scientist away "Why are **you** here? I'm sure they don't want to see your pathetic face ever again… get back to your house and prepare your evil scheme… Agent P. will come to your place anytime now… get out of my sight…" Doofenshmirtz scolded and stood up, swaying back and forth like a drunk "D-don't you dare tell me what to do, Francis. I can stay here all I want…" The Major's face became grim and he hissed "how dare you come here after all you have done to them, to **my** family?… get out, GET OUT!" The last words were screamed into his face and the evil man took a few steps back like he had been slapped. He turned away and walked, didn't say anything more as he left Monogram panting heavily. The older man choked and stammered as he watched the evil scientist walked away. He turned to look at the tombs and he whispered sadly "…I'm sorry, Eli… I have lost my temper"

* * *

Doofenshmirtz felt dead inside as he walked like an undead. He felt someone gripped his coat and he looked down to see a young child, no older than 10 looking at him with big blue eyes. Doofenshmirtz felt his heart tightened. Those eyes, they looked so much like _his_. The boy poked his fingers together shyly and asked "Mister… are you Heinz Doofenshmirtz?" The evil man scolded but replied tiredly nonetheless "Yes... what do you want?" The boy took out a white envelop from his pocket and handed it to Doofenshmirtz who took it gracefully "...there's someone... who want me to give you this..." Doofenshmirtz nodded and tore the envelop into pieces, a small white note fell out and the man picked it up. Reading the note slowly, Doofenshmirtz's face turned from tired to fear and he couldn't even feel anything anymore. His body felt numb as he realized the handwriting.

_'Hello, Father,_

_It's good to see you so well and healthy today... Have you had a nemesis yet? Don't worry, if you don't, you will have one soon...How's my half-sister? What's her name again? Vanessia? Vanessa? Ah, yes... that's her name, isn't it? I think you should check up on her soon...you know, just to make sure._

_You will see me real soon, Father._

_Good day._

_Your son,_

_The abandoned'_

Doofenshmirtz paled as he felt like the blood refused to rush to his brain. He dropped the note and immediately took the cellphone out, pressing the _call_ button, the scientist felt his heart was about to explode as he didn't hear his daughter's voice. "Please, don't let anything bad happens to her… please, please" The man prayed as the phone rang once, then twice but Vanessa hadn't picked it up yet.

_"Yes, dad? Do you know what time is it?" _

Vanessa's voice was enough to make Doofenshmirtz silent in disbelief and then relief as he sat on the ground and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding "…You… you are alright, Vanessa…" He breathed and let out a shaky laugh "You really are alright…" Vanessa frowned slightly as she listened to her father's voice and she asked worriedly _"Are you alright, Dad? Why aren't I alright? Has something bad happened? Have you been… crying?"_ Doofenshmirtz soaked up in his daughter's voice as he tried to make his voice less hoarse. The boy was looking at him like he was crazy and took a few steps backward before running away. Feeling like all his senses had come back to him, Doofenshmirtz said quickly with surprised sanity and intelligence "I will talk to you later, Vanessa. Everything is fine… Don't talk to anyone unless it's me or your Mom alright? I will call later…" He hung up immediately and chased after the boy.

Gripping the boy's shirt tightly as he caught up with him, Doofenshmirtz effectively stopped the young boy and asked him forcefully "…Who gave you the letter, kid? What does he or she look like?" The boy shook his head fearfully and trembled like a leaf "I-I don't know, s-sir… please don't hurt m-me…" Doofenshmirtz 's eyes softened before hardened again as he repeated his question in a different way "Describe that person for me, kid" The boy stammered as he tried to control his tears "…he w-wore b-black clothes… and a-a b-big c-coat that h-has a h-hood… I c-can't se-see his face… He t-told me t-that…" The boy stuttered and shook in the man's firm grip "…t-that if y-you as-ask about h-his ap-appearance t-then… t-tell you t-that _'y-you have already k-known'_… p-please don't hurt me" He begged and Doofenshmirtz loosened his grip only enough for the boy to break out and ran, never looked back at the fearsome man.

Doofenshmirtz stood there for a whole minute before he silently came back to pick up the note, dusting his clothes and looked at the graveyard one last time. He whispered quietly as his hand lightly touched a random tomb "…even if you are my son, I won't never let you harm my family… you are a mistake and I intend to fix that" He turned his head and walked out. He had a new scheme to make and for once, it wouldn't be about taking over the tri-state area.

* * *

Somewhere else, a certain boy smiled cruelly as if he just heard the words. Quickened his pace, the boy gripped his pack tightly. He would certainly enjoy those moments. Today was a beautiful day after all.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Okay... so, there aren't many actions in this chapter but it will be an important part for the next chapters. Please read and review. I appreciate your reviews. Thank you very much.

Special thanks to** iheartphinabella05** and** humanusscriptor** for reviewing my story.

**Next chapter: Letters and the ones left behind.**


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